Rectifying the Torah of the animal to reach the Torah of man

ברש"י אמר ר' שמלאי כשם שקדמה יצירת בהמה כו'.

In Rashi: Rabbi Simlai said, "Just as the formation of the animal preceded [the formation of man in the creation, so too the laws of the animal precede the laws of man]..." (Rashi, Vayikra 12:2).

The Sefas Emes opens with Rashi's citation of Rabbi Simlai, who notes that just as animals were created before man in Bereishis, so the Torah's laws of animals (in Shemini) precede the laws concerning man (in Tazria).

הענין הוא שהקב"ה עשה כך להיות מוכרח האדם לתקן הכל.

The matter is that the Holy One, blessed is He, did this so that man would be compelled to rectify everything.

Man was created last and built upon all that came before precisely so that he would bear responsibility to elevate and rectify the entire creation beneath him.

לכן האדם כולל מראש עד סוף.

Therefore man encompasses everything from beginning to end.

Because man's task is to rectify all of creation, he himself contains within him every level — from the lowest to the highest — a microcosm of the whole.

כמו שכתב במד' אחור וקדם כו'.

As the Midrash writes on "Back and front [You have formed me]" (Tehillim 139:5).

The Midrash on "achor v'kedem tzartani" teaches that man was created last in deed but first in thought — he spans the entire arc of creation, "back and front."

והנה בפרשה הקודמת כ' זאת תורת הבהמה כו'.

Now, in the previous parsha it is written "This is the law (toras) of the animal..." (Vayikra 11:46).

He turns to the prior parsha, Shemini, which concludes the laws of permitted and forbidden creatures with the phrase "zos toras ha'behemah" — "this is the Torah of the animal."

זאת כו' אשר תאכלו כו'.

"This is... that which you may eat..." (cf. Vayikra 11:2).

The Torah specifies "zos... asher tochlu" — "this is what you may eat" — listing which creatures are permitted as food.

ודרשו חז"ל שהראה הקב"ה למשה זה תאכל כו'.

And Chazal expounded that the Holy One, blessed is He, showed Moshe [each kind, saying] "this you may eat..."

Chazal teach that Hashem visually showed Moshe Rabbeinu each species, pointing out "this one you may eat and this one you may not" — an unusually direct, demonstrative revelation.

וגם לבאר הלשון לעיל לאמר אליהם כו'.

And also to explain the wording above, "to say to them..." (Vayikra 11:2).

The Sefas Emes also wishes to clarify the seemingly extra word "leimor aleihem" — "to say to them" — in the introduction to these laws.

הענין כי הבורא ית' נתן בטבע הבריאה איך להיות ניזון כל ברי' ממזון השייך אליו.

The matter is that the Creator placed within the nature of creation how each creature should be nourished from the food that pertains to it.

From the beginning, Hashem embedded in nature a fitting system of nourishment — each creature drawing sustenance from the food suited to its kind.

ועיין בס' קול שמחה בפ' בראשית בפסוק הנה נתתי כו'.

And see in the sefer Kol Simchah, in parshas Bereishis, on the verse "Behold, I have given [you every seed-bearing plant]..." (Bereishis 1:29).

He refers the reader to his grandfather's work, the Kol Simchah, on the verse where Hashem first assigns food to mankind at creation.

אכן אחר יצ"מ וקבלת התורה הי' שינוי בטבע כמ"ש בפרשיות הקודמות איך כל הבריאה נשתנה שמים וארץ וימים.

However, after Yetzias Mitzrayim and kabbalas haTorah there was a change in nature, as is written in the previous parshiyos, how all of creation was transformed — heaven, earth, and seas.

The Exodus and the giving of the Torah introduced a fundamental shift in the natural order itself. As the earlier parshiyos describe, the heavens, the earth, and the seas were all elevated and changed by these events.

לכן גם המאכלים היו באופן אחר ע"פ התורה.

Therefore the foods, too, became different in accordance with the Torah.

Since creation as a whole was transformed, the very nature of food changed as well — now governed by the Torah's laws of what may and may not be eaten.

היינו שאין מזון בנ"י כמו מזון האומות.

That is, the nourishment of Bnei Yisrael is not like the nourishment of the nations.

After Sinai, the food of Bnei Yisrael is essentially different from that of the nations — it carries a sanctity and a spiritual function that ordinary food does not.

כמ"ש במד' שהבדיל הבורא ית' את בנ"י במזון ובכל דבר.

As the Midrash says, that the Creator separated Bnei Yisrael through food and through everything.

The Midrash teaches that Hashem set Bnei Yisrael apart in every domain — including their food — marking them as distinct and holy.

לכן ניתן כח חדש במאמר זה.

Therefore a new power was placed in this utterance (maamar).

For this reason, the Divine "saying" that designates kosher food carries a new creative force — beyond the original ma'amaros of creation.

זה אשר תאכלו כו'.

"This is what you may eat..." (cf. Vayikra 11:2).

The phrase "zeh asher tochlu" is itself such an empowered utterance, infusing the permitted creatures with a new, post-Sinai sanctity.

וז"ש לאמר אליהם.

And this is the meaning of "to say to them."

The "extra" word "leimor aleihem" hints at this renewal — a new mode of Divine speech directed to Bnei Yisrael.

שנשתנו כח המאמרות לבנ"י באופן נעלה ממקודם בעת בריאת שמים וארץ.

For the power of the Divine utterances was changed for Bnei Yisrael in a more exalted manner than before, at the time of the creation of heaven and earth.

The ma'amaros — the "sayings" by which the world was made — were elevated to a higher plane for Bnei Yisrael after Sinai, surpassing their original creative power at the six days of creation.

וניתן כח התורה בכל המינים טהורים.

And the power of the Torah was placed within all the pure species.

The kosher (pure) creatures were now infused with the power of Torah itself — so that eating them in holiness becomes an act of avodah.

ז"ש זאת תורת כו'.

This is the meaning of "this is the Torah (toras) of..."

The phrase "zos toras ha'behemah" therefore means literally that the Torah's power was vested in these animals — "the Torah of the animal."

וזה רמזו שהראהו למרע"ה.

And this is what they hinted at, that He showed it to Moshe Rabbeinu.

Hashem's "showing" each species to Moshe alludes to this: He revealed how a new Divine power had been invested in these creatures.

פי' שנתן (בו) כביכול הש"י כח חדש באלה המינים כו'.

The explanation: that Hashem placed, as it were, a new power into these species.

The demonstrative "showing" expresses that Hashem invested, so to speak, a fresh spiritual force into the permitted creatures — something that could be "shown" because it was newly given.

ואחר שמתקנים אלה הכוחות והארות הנמצאים בתורת הבהמה אח"כ זוכין לתורת האדם:

And after one rectifies these powers and illuminations found in the "Torah of the animal," one then merits the "Torah of man."

By properly handling kosher food — elevating the holy sparks and lights embedded in the "Torah of the animal" — a person refines his own animal, bodily dimension. Only then does he ascend to the higher "Torah of man," the laws and holiness pertaining to man himself in Tazria. This is why the animal precedes man: the lower must be rectified first.

Summary: Man was created last so that he must rectify all of creation, and thus he contains every level "from beginning to end." After Yetzias Mitzrayim and Matan Torah, nature itself was elevated — including food, so that the nourishment of Bnei Yisrael differs from the nations'. The Torah's power was vested in the kosher species (the "Torah of the animal"), and by rectifying the holy sparks within them a person refines his bodily self and only then merits the higher "Torah of man."